Can the Death Note Kill Goku?
Goku has achieved some incredible feats of strength and power over decades of Dragon Ball anime, and the Death Note is one of the scariest magical items ever conceptualized. For fans of both of these anime, the biggest question is: could the Death Note kill Goku? From his ability to transform into a Super Saiyan to his limitless energy, this article will explore whether or not the infamous book of death could affect our favorite hero in the Dragon Ball franchise. Can the Death Note hypothetically kill Goku? Let’s find out.
The Death Note can’t kill Goku. The first rule in the Death Note is, “The human whose name is written in this note shall die.” Goku is not a human. He’s a Saiyan, an alien race.
What if you could have a magical book that could kill anyone just by writing their name on its pages? That is the powerful premise of the popular anime series Death Note. But there is one person even this supernatural tome can’t defeat—the legendary hero, Goku.
How the Death Note works
The titular mystical notebook, called a Death Note, is what the Shinigami utilize to keep themselves alive. The Death Note’s main function is to destroy human life to prolong the life of the Shinigami who uses it.
The most important stipulation among the Death Note’s many regulations is that “the human whose name is recorded in this note shall die.” The Death Note’s rules appear to be created and controlled by the King of Death, who has the authority to enact any new regulations he sees fit.
Humans can use a Death Note, albeit it does not lengthen their lives. People have used the Death Notes to kill others or have burned them to eliminate them for various reasons. Although it is established early in the series that Death Notes have been dumped in the human world before, Ryuk is the first rogue Shinigami portrayed doing this.
Who is considered human in Dragon Ball?
In the Dragon Ball series, any entity that is not a god or does not have godly Ki is referred to as human or mortal. There are mortals in every universe. Depending on their deeds while they were living, individuals enter the Other World after death and are imprisoned in either Hell or Heaven.
It all depends on what we define as “human.” In the Dragon Ball series, the Kais frequently refer to any intelligent humanoid as “human.” Saiyans and Androids are both regarded as human.
Given that Goku came dangerously close to passing away from heart disease during the Cell Saga, the Death Note may be able to kill him. The Death Note may need a face, a name, and a humanoid being.
Despite this, the rules of the Death Note are always to-the-point and direct. If it says you can’t do something, it means you can’t. Because the Death Note specifies it can only kill humans, and we haven’t seen it kill any other beings other than humans, we have to assume that’s the rule.
How human do you have to be?
The next issue is how human you have to be before you become a potential target for the Death Note. How many generations would pass before the Death Note could kill you if you started with one half-human and kept reproducing with full humans down the line? Does this mean your bloodline is effectively protected from the death note for all time if you have just one non-human ancestor?
Let’s explore this concept by experimenting with a pre-existing Death Note rule. The rule says, “The human whose name is written in this note shall die. This note will not take effect unless the writer has the subject’s face in mind when writing his/her name. This prevents people who share the same name from being affected.”
Therefore, because of how DNA functions, the DNA of the father and the mother’s contribution is perfectly split; They each give 50%. As a result, a half-human would probably not be susceptible to the Death Note.
However, Goku isn’t even a half-human. He’s a full-blooded Saiyan, so he’s totally out of the question if we take the first rule at face value. Therefore, Goku wouldn’t be able to be killed by the Death Note.
